I know I've asked similar questions in the past and I've always eventually managed to find out where I went wrong. But a2e13 has me totally stumped. I'd say I've spent at least 5 or 6 hours on it and, having identified a number of dead ends, I've come to the conclusion that the puzzle must be unsolvable.

I know I must be wrong but, before I spend any more time on it, I just want to check and make sure there's not a typo in the puzzle. I once got totally stuck on a puzzle that I had transcribed from a book to a spreadsheet. I had checked that I had transcribed it correctly (or thought I had), but eventually discovered that I had changed an x to a + or vice versa in one of the cages.

The only other explanation I can think of is that there is a solution for a three cell cage 390625^ other than 158 or 235. If there is, then I clearly don't fully understand how exponentiation cells work.

EDIT: I've just had another look at the puzzle and noticed that I had excluded one of the possibilities for a 4- cell - no idea why, just one of those inexplicable blind spots that I get from time to time. I'm going to carry on using the revised combination and see if I can finally resolve this puzzle, while I still have some hair left.

marblevolcano

Posted on:Mon Jun 19, 2017 8:11 pm

Posts: 236Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 2:17 pm

Re: Book puzzle a2e13

I am having the same sort of problem with a2z15. About a third of the way through the puzzle, I reach a point where I have a 6 in f1 but I also must have a 6 in the 10+ cage. I have reached this predicament at least three times, and each time I go through again to see if I've made a mistake. Everything is the same, but there is that one number out of place. It is really frustrating

I am having the same sort of problem with a2z15. About a third of the way through the puzzle, I reach a point where I have a 6 in f1 but I also must have a 6 in the 10+ cage. I have reached this predicament at least three times, and each time I go through again to see if I've made a mistake. Everything is the same, but there is that one number out of place. It is really frustrating

That's one of the ones I haven't solved yet. I have 17 left to complete out of 111 and I've had attempts at all but 3 of them. Some of them have reached an impasse and I'm going to have to backtrack - others I just sit looking at and scratching my head and hoping that inspiration will come.

Slightly masochistic, but very pleasing when I finally finish one that has been stymieing me for a while. I finally finished a2e13 a few minutes ago. I was playing bridge, so I had to wait until I got home before I could finish it.

I had been making a really stupid mistake. It's a 9x9 with zero and because the numbers only go up to 8, I got the idea into my head that there were only 4 possible solutions to a 4- cell. Two of these solutions were blocked by other numbers nearby, a third one created an impossible 168x cage in the same row and the 4th one worked up to a point, but eventually led to a blind alley. It was only after I posted here that it dawned on me that there was a 5th possible solution!

marblevolcano

Posted on:Tue Jun 20, 2017 12:54 am

Posts: 236Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 2:17 pm

Re: Book puzzle a2e13

I have tried all of the puzzles in that book, and I'm down to about 8 or so left. I haven't solved a2e13 yet, although I think I'll give it another go after this. I also have to do a2x10, one of the 15x15's, but first I have to take up the daunting task of erasing it I nearly finished it, and then with 6 cells left I realized I had made a mistake somewhere. 6 CELLS LEFT.

Thank goodness for printers as I always run off the puzzles on the printer in case I "screw it up" and hence can then just run off another copy (by the way: which book has this puzzle??)

marblevolcano

Posted on:Tue Jun 20, 2017 1:12 am

Posts: 236Joined: Sun May 22, 2016 2:17 pm

Re: Book puzzle a2e13

beaker wrote:

Thank goodness for printers as I always run off the puzzles on the printer in case I "screw it up" and hence can then just run off another copy (by the way: which book has this puzzle??)

This is the 121 Advanced Puzzles Vol. II book.I have never tried it on a printer before... How do you do that with book puzzles - is there a way to print it off the site using the puzzle code or something?

@ Marblle.To the best of my knowledge, it is only possible if there is a PDF copy of the book.Patrick has done that for several books. Most of the books were out of print, but I beleive he has done that for The Holiday Book.

I use a spreadsheet when I get stuck on a book puzzle. I copy the information manually into a spreadsheet and use background colouring for non linear cages. It takes a few minutes (particularly for the larger puzzles), but then allows me to play around with the puzzle as if it was online (albeit without an error message if a cage is incorrect).